World briefs

Japan’s economy in the first quarter has expanded more than the government initially estimated, adding to evidence the world’s third-largest economy will sustain its recovery this year. Gross domestic product grew by an annualised 4.7 per cent in the three months to March 31, the cabinet office said on Friday. The report includes an upward revision to private demand, signs the domestic economy is recovering as rebuilding from last year’s earthquake kicks in and government incentives for buying fuel-efficient cars boost consumption. Bloomberg

The suggested involvement of Iran in ending Syria’s political strife has pitted Russia against the United States as a United Nations peace plan unravelled with shots fired at observers of a UN-backed truce. With his ceasefire agreement in tatters, UN envoy
Kofi Annan
warned the General Assembly more needed to be done to prevent Syria from sliding into civil war after two massacres less than a fortnight apart. Since the uprising began, more than 15,000 have been killed. The Guardian

Saddam Hussein
’s trusted personal secretary, once No. 4 on the US most-wanted list in Iraq, has been hanged. Iraq’s Justice Ministry said on Friday that Abed Hamid Hmoud was the latest in a series of former senior regime officials to be executed since the toppling of Saddam during a US-led invasion nine years ago. AP

British ministers will boycott group stage soccer matches in Ukraine amid anger over the treatment of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. The move comes after other European countries including Germany and France said their senior politicians would boycott games played in Ukraine – which is co-hosting the Europe 2012 event with Poland – unless the human rights situation under President Viktor Yanukovych improved. The Telegraph

The Bank of Korea has held off from altering borrowing costs for a 12th straight month – the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate has been kept at 3.25 per cent – as easing inflation gave policymakers room to wait and see how China’s slowdown and Europe’s debt crisis affect the economy. Bloomberg